JOHNSON CITY (March 5, 2021) – Award-winning author Stephen Coss will present research from his book, “The Fever of 1721: The Epidemic that Revolutionized Medicine and American Politics,” in a free virtual talk in the East Tennessee State University Department of History Speaker Series.
His talk will be given Wednesday, March 17, at 7 p.m. via Zoom.
In his 2016 book published by Simon & Schuster, Coss tells the story of the year when a combination of momentous events set in motion the inevitability of the American Revolution. He illustrates how Boston’s largest smallpox epidemic ignited a series of events – the controversial practice of inoculation, political uprising with Boston ousting its royal governor, and the first free press in the colonies – which changed American politics, medicine and journalism forever.
“The Fever of 1721” is Coss’s first book. He was inspired to write it after receiving a “Fact a Day” calendar that mentioned the inoculation experiment undertaken by Dr. Zabdiel Boylston at the behest of the Rev. Cotton Mather. Coss took eight years to research and write his book, which won him the New England Society Award and was favorably reviewed by a number of historians and publications.
In his talk, Coss will discuss Boston in 1721, the smallpox epidemic, and the inoculation experiment and its effects on the politics of the time and on journalism, as well as its formative influence on a young Benjamin Franklin. He will also discuss Cotton Mather and his enslaved African servant, Onesimus, who bore a scar from an earlier inoculation in Africa. Coss will also point out similarities to and differences between the epidemic of 1721 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to ask questions.
Coss, who lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife, Judy, has appeared on C-Span, the History Channel podcast “History This Week,” NPR, and many other podcasts and radio programs. He is also the author of one of Smithsonian Magazine’s most popular articles of 2017, which examined the troubled marriage of Benjamin Franklin.
To register and receive the Zoom link for Coss’s talk, go to http://bit.ly/3qkHUcn.
For more information, contact Dr. Steven Nash at nashse@etsu.edu.